RIVERSIDE — A 46-year-old Lake Mathews man who sexually abused three girls, at least one of whom was in the Riverside County foster care system, was bound for state prison Wednesday to serve a nine-year term, while his wife was on probation for aiding him in trying to cover up the crimes.
Christopher Gary Tilden pleaded guilty in March to four counts of lewd acts on a minor, felony annoying a child and felony indecent exposure. Tilden’s plea was directed to Superior Court Judge Gary Polk, without negotiations between the prosecution and defense. No charges were dismissed.
Soon afterward, Tilden’s spouse, 44-year-old Katrina Frances Tilden, admitted a misdemeanor charge of being an accessory after the fact. Her admission stemmed from a pretrial agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. A child endangerment count was dropped in the plea deal, court records showed.
During a hearing Tuesday at the Riverside Hall of Justice, Polk imposed the nine-year prison sentence on Christopher Tilden, while ordering his wife to serve 12 months’ probation.
According to Sgt. Patrick Montalvo of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, agents from the Department of Public Social Services notified deputies in September 2024 that they had received information regarding abuse of three girls at the defendants’ residence, located in the area of Orangemont and Orchard View lanes.
It was not disclosed whether only one, or all three, of the victims, whose identities were not released, were in the foster care system.
“The juveniles stated that while attending a sleepover at a friend’s residence, they had been photographed and sexually assaulted,” Montalvo said.
Detectives followed up, coordinating with the District Attorney’s Office’s Child Exploitation Team to ultimately gather enough evidence to obtain search warrants that were served at the couple’s home last Oct. 24.
They also served a warrant at Tilden’s workplace near the intersection of King Avenue and Van Buren Boulevard in Riverside, where he was taken into custody without incident. Katrina Tilden was arrested in the same area at the same time.
The specific acts perpetrated by Tilden were not revealed.
Neither he nor his wife had documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
